Thanks to the graciousness of Mark Myers from Lane Aviation, the wonderful folks at Flight Safety International, and the influence of a good friend with more pull than I will ever have, I was lucky enough to spend yesterday morning in front of a control panel like the one shown here, flying a Gulfstream G200 around Manhattan.

Well, OK, it wasn't a real G2 and we weren't actually in Manhattan, but it was certainly the next-best thing: a multi-million dollar simulator, the same ones G2 pilots train in. And, let me say, it was fantastic!

Here on the fringe of Columbus International Airport, on the East side of Columbus, Flight Safety International has a facility (formerly the site of Paul Tibbets' company Executive Jet Aviation) where they have seven (count 'em, seven) full-size, full-motion executive jet simulators. You can see a few of them in the photo below.

These simulators represent a range of flying hardware including the G2, Cessna Citations, and so on. Each is incredibly and exactly built to look, act, feel and respond just like the real thing. This facility is mostly used to train and keep up to date the 2,000 or so pilots for NetJets, which is also headquartered here in town. One thing I didn't know is that the FAA considers these simulators to be so much like the real thing that pilots (with appropriate prior credentials) can be trained, certified and licensed in one without ever actually flying the real plane. That is great simulation.

The experience, not surprisingly, was quite amazing. I'm not a pilot but I grew up the son and grandson of pilots so I've always had more than a passing interest and spent more than a few of my younger days trying not to puke from motion sickness in a variety of smaller private aircraft. I thought I knew at least a little bit about what to expect.

Mostly, I was wrong.

The simulator--and the real jet, for that matter--has a "glass cockpit," which means there are virtually no real gauges. Everything is presented on a collection of multi-function devices--computer screens--right in front of you.

Like every multi-engine aircraft, the collection of dials and switches and levers and knobs is overwhelming but John Bhim-Rao, the G200 Progam Manager for Flight Safety, who apparently drew the short straw and had to ride along with us, kept enough of the right things adjusted to the right positions to allow Mark and I to "fly" and worry about mostly the basics, which is to say steering, power, flaps, landing gear and, of course, getting the thing back on the ground in one piece.

Our flight departed from LaGuardia on a beautiful sunny day (light cumulus cloud cover, unlimited visibility) and, although it took a moment to figure out that the left pedal makes it turn right when you're on the ground, we took off successfully to the North, and climbed to 2,000 feet while turning left for a nice view of Manhattan out the port side of the cockpit.

But the take-off was a lot more interesting than that. First, of course, was the thrust of those two engines. With the power on, that little jet goes. And, as speed builds, the tires start thumping surprisingly hard on the expansion joints of the runway. Much harder than you feel in a larger commercial jet. When we had reached an appropriate speed, a gentle pull back on the controls and the thing rose easily into a 1000+ feet per minute climb. It was so, well, real, it was uncanny.

Ironically, considering where we were, John then showed us how much like a video game the aircraft actually is...or at least can be. In the center of the instrumentation was a pink V-shaped indicator along with another white one. The white V was our plane, the pink one where we wanted our plane to be. Getting the aircraft to go to the right place--that is, climbing to the correct altitude at the appropriate climb rate and following the correct heading--was as simple as keeping the white V nestled inside the pink one. Want a new heading? Turn a dial on the dashboard to request, say, a left turn to 280 degrees, then just follow the pink V. Amazingly easy to do. At least, with John over your shoulder.

After flying across above the Statue of Liberty, John pointed to the Verranzo-Narrows bridge, South of Manhattan, and said, "let's see how close you can get to that." We banked to the right and started to descend. Mark Myers, in the co-pilot's seat, said, "I'll give you a buck if you can fly under it" and, of course, I took the bet. Even better, we actually made it!

From under the bridge, we climbed back to 2,000 feet and banked left and to the North for our approach back into LaGuardia. As you approach the runway, from many miles back you can see the glide-path indicator, a series of four huge lights right next to the runway. If they're all white, you're too high. All red, too low. Get two red and two white and you will drop neatly back down onto the runway, which is exactly what we did.

After a few high-fives and some quick photos with our mobile phones, Mark then took us back up and around with me playing co-pilot. He was able to earn back his dollar by making it under the bridge too (he did it better than I) and also successfully landing back at LaGuardia.

A great experience I won't soon forget. Thank you to all who made it possible.

1. Jerry Carter05/04/2010 09:49:55 AM

Cool!

2. Carl Tyler05/04/2010 11:07:04 AM
Homepage: http://www.epilio.com

Sweet. Years ago I bought my Dad and brother an Hour in a 747-400 flight simulator at Heathrow with British Airways. Fantastic stuff.

I was actually thinking about flying down to the Statue of Liberty this weekend for real, now I'm even more tempted

3. Scott Good05/04/2010 11:15:47 AM
Homepage: http://wwww.scottgood.com

Be sure to fly under the bridge while you're there!

4. Carl Tyler05/04/2010 01:26:24 PM
Homepage: http://www.epilio.com

@3 Is it ok if I give your name as a contact when the black helicopters escort me to the nearest airfield?

5. Tom05/05/2010 01:14:18 PM

The closest thing to what you have done was to try the jet fighter simulator at the Smithsonian Air and Space (the 2nd one at Dulles airport - not many people seem to know about this Museum). It was pretty exciting but don't do this on a full stomach!

Tom

6. Richard Moy05/12/2010 11:07:50 AM
Homepage: http://www.dominointerface.com

Scott,

Cool. I have been in a simulator once for a plane and also a simulator for train with 200 cars. You really feel it when you crash a train with 200 cars. You really get a sense of the real thing.

7. Stanley Zimblatt10/14/2011 09:12:12 AM

Just remember that, yes, it really is a video game and most of the FlightSafety instrructors have NEVER flown the real airplane! Yes, they are pilots in something, but as to the aircraft that they teach - they are really nothing more than computer technicians. In the G200 program, they used to have a guy there (I think his name was Dave) who had experience in the airplane - and he was a great guy, a super instructor, but what he brought to his instruction because of his experience in the airplane was head-and shoulders above the other instructors. As Jimmy Buffet said, "Don't try to describe the ocean if you've never seen it."